The world is watching Chicago this weekend, but it’s not to see the 19-21 White Sox take on the 15-24 Cubs. Solider Field will host an event with worldwide interest and global implications, but it’s not the Bears vs. a rival NFC power for the chance to go to the Super Bowl.
On Sunday and Monday, President Barack Obama is home to host the NATO Summit 2012. (Complete with shoot-to-kill, no-fly-zone above the skies of Chicago). And Sunday night includes a working dinner with leaders of all the NATO nations at Soldier Field, home of the Bears. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be here, along with British Prime Minister David Cameron, even Afghanistan U.S. installed puppet, uhm I mean sovereign president Hamid Karzai.
From the Chicago Tribune:
Earlier in the day, Michelle Obama is expected to host an outing for NATO leaders’ spouses to the Gary Comer Youth Center on the South Side. The youth center, at 7200 S. Ingleside, is an architecturally significant building that provides extracurricular programs for school kids in the Grand Crossing neighborhood, where the late Lands’ End magnate Gary Comer grew up.
The May 20-21 meeting will bring about 50 world leaders to Chicago, including heads of state from the 28 North American and European countries that make up the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
This is….kind of a big deal. I live near Wrigley Field, WAY north of where all the NATO meetings will occur, and heightened security will STILL affect my life. I can’t use the community room or the skydeck in my building for two days even though we’re nowhere near the summit activities.
The only explanation I have for this facist, police state crap is something about NORAD air defense drills or something. And you can hear choppers overhead all the time. And everywhere you go in public there are police everywhere. It’s a surreal experience.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, MSN, and Fox Sports
A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio all over the world; and he’s a member of the Football Writers Association of America, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and Society of Professional Journalists. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too.
